Lab tech = FAIL.

Dear LabCorp-

Thank you so very much for fucking up my blood tests. I was there to be tested for Celiac Disease and some how you managed not to test me for it at all.

No worries, I mean it is just my health… I’m super excited to have to put some more gluten back into my body. Yummy poison.

XOXOX

-J

p.s. People wonder why I hate conventional medicine… this example adds more icing to the cake.

Love list 3.17.10

THINGS I LOVE.

• Boyfriend.
• Dog.
• spring like nights
• back porches
• gluten free beer. I don’t know if I’m over joyed about the lack of hops, but I am excited that gluten free beer does exist.
• dried apricots
• the wonderful stories people have told me about going gluten free
• ayurvedic facials
• Flying Apron Peanut butter Bars
• used books
• better moods
• calm stomach and guts
• great yet simple make up tips that make a huge difference
• green tea
• expensive wine that actually tastes great
• people who  agree with your frustrations
• a sturdy coffee cup
• being told that” being the pioneer in your among your friends and family can be fulfilling, but also be very lonely at times.” Amen.
• cheap accessories from Forever 21
• getting back to a fitness routine
• tomato soup
• pesto
• blue skies
• nuts. Sorry mom,they may have as many calories as your favorite Frappuccino, but they are more nutritious and filling. You’re choosing wrong thing..
• knowing thy self

Gluten dreams and family that just doesn’t get it.

I had a dream last night that I ate gluten. I was at someone’s house and ate cornbread. I realized after a few bites that it was probably full of extra flours. I remember asking if it had flour in it and they said yes, but it was organic. I started to panic and get very upset. … then I woke up.

Years ago when I took soy out of my diet, it was really hard to explain it to friends and family. Especially family. Going to a brunch where there would be “tons of things for me to eat!” and only being able to eat fruit. While I know people have great intentions and really try to accommodate my food issues and intolerance, it would be helpful to get the right one. My aunt thought I was lactose intolerant so she bought me rice milk? She also pointed out to me that it was organic.

This is going to be the hardest one to explain to people. I mean really. I work in a store where people tell me they don’t want wheat flour, they want white flour. Really, what kind of grain is white flour from then? White is a color, not a grain I’ve ever heard of. I told my dad about eating gluten free, he delivers bread for a living and has for more than 30 years and he told me I should try this one they carry that is made with flax.

But I think the real problem is that most Americans, including 99.9% of my family, has no idea what their foods look like in raw form. They now know that organic is better for you… There are tons of things that I know about foods, and there are tons of things I don’t know about foods. I’m learning everyday. I wish I could encourage people to think more about their food, but it has to be their choice and not forced upon them.

I wish I had been born with all of these food intolerance and known about being gluten intolerant/or with Celiac disease earlier in life. People who have known me my whole life, mainly family, know I could eat whatever I wanted but now don’t understand why I can’t as a 30+ adult. I’m old enough to know my body and know when something isn’t right.

The second day, of the rest of my life.

On a day where I feel 50% better than I did the day before… I was hoping for sunshine and rainbows with pots of gold in my backyard and fuzzy puppies wanting kisses… but naw. I live in Seattle and its a typical winter gray day and the backyard still needs mowing and dishes still need washing.

I love run-on sentences.

Tests are being done, I’m waiting for the results.

Today will be day 2 of going back to being gluten free. I guess I’m sort of in detox mode.

Shanti.

Love list 3.9.10

There is a fun time gluten science project going on in my body. I feel like absolute crap. This means its a perfect time to do a love list.  I’ve been focusing on the negative side effect gluten does to my body since the Thursday the 4th. I’m sick of being the center of my own attention.

THINGS I LOVE.

• Kevin. He’s sad that I feel like hell and wants to know how to help me in this situation… and there isn’t anything he can do.
• Dog. She keeps me toasty warm when I’m lying in bed reading.
• Invaders! Come to Seattle.
• The Olympics being over. I hope they didn’t destroy Whistler…
• Haley’s Corner Bakery This place isn’t that close to my house but for me its is worth the 20 minute drive, located in Kent, WA. Their bacon & cheddar roll was rad!
• Converse. Ah, hello noobs! Welcome to the family!
• Random snowflakes.
• _____ For Dummies. Hahaha. These books are so easy to make fun of but I have 3 or 4 of them. I bought the one on being Gluten Free.
• Gray jeans.
• Donating money in memory of my cousin, who died of cancer last year.
• green tea
• tattoo ideas
• Green’s Gluten Free Beer. There are other beers out there that I’ve tried, but this one had the best flavor. It needs more hops, in my opinion.
• Knowing your body and how it works or doesn’t work.
• Fuckyeahchubbygirls!
• perfectly ripe pears
• funny medication chats
• coconut oil
• my mom no longer flinching or giving me disapproving looks when I say fuck.
• people who buy into health fads.
• bookstores
• scents of spring
• the rest of my life.

Yuck, gluten had to come back.

Ugh.

I heard back from my doctor.

Gluten is back.

My stomach isn’t happy.

Attack! Attack!

It’s Saturday, I’m excited for Wednesday.

Betty Crocker GF Cookies

Last night I made gluten free cookies.

Not from scratch, I’m not that brave yet.. and spending $$ on flours and gums isn’t in my budget the first half of the month.

More and more companies are making gluten free products. I had seen a box of cookie mix months ago and thought it was great to see it at a mainstream place such as Fred Meyer. Who knew I might later be seeking it out..

I bought a box of the cookie mix from Betty Crocker. There was a side panel talking about how they have people who work for them that have recently found out they or one of their children have found out they had Celiac Disease. They made the mixes because life is just to great to not have the chance to celebrate the good times without a cookie after a baseball game or a year in life without cake.  (yea, totally threw the box away, but there message was good, I swear) Or the story is right here. The mixes are made in a gluten free facility.

So. I have to say, mixing the butter into the mix took a lot of elbow grease!  (I’m realizing I will need to buy a Kitchen Aid if I want to bake more GF stuff from stratch.) As with any type of commercial chocolate chip cookies, it needs more chocolate chips!

(I need to start taking more pictures of my food! Or stuff I make, find or try.)

I baked up larger cookies, using a tablespoon. It made up 24 cookies, I baked up 22. The dough was great! It tasted great on it’s own and would be super awesome mixed in with some vanilla ice cream!

They were a little more crumbly than a regular cookie. But, looked just as tasty. But, they had a weird after taste. They also left a weird dried out feeling in my mouth. Coffee went well with them, a glass of chocolate almond milk would go nicely with them. Water? Not so much.

I’ve had better gluten free chocolate chip cookies, ones made at the co-op and ones made from bakeries around town. But, if you were in a pinch and wanted cookies now.. or needed some cookies for a friend that was coming over that couldn’t have gluten.. or needed a cookie dough fix.. this works. It must, I made them last night and Kevin and I ate them up. And, I’m a total adult and ate the last 4 for breakfast.

Gluten free ice cream! Yay!

La de da.

I’m working on my gluten free world. The other day we had sushi and I was fine after. But, we sort of wanted ice cream afterward.

I bought some of the new Haagen Dazs FIVE. It was awesome. But I was also curious about it. So I sent the folks at Haagen Dazs a little email about being gluten free. And I got a response back, less than 24 hours later. They were pretty nice in their letter and sent me a PDF file about their products regarding gluten and nut allergens.

Sweet. I know who I’m getting my ice cream from next time I’m at the store!

Hello, next life.

What if today was the first day of the rest of your life?

What would you do differently?

I’m changing my life today, for good. From this day forward, I won’t be eating gluten in any form. No more beer. No more spelt toast. No more panko on sushi. No more breaded or battered stuffs. No more horribly upset stomachs. No more bullshit.

I won’t be tested until next Wednesday at the earliest. I’m changing my diet a week early, I’m okay with skewed results.I felt so amazing last week, and thats really all I want. I need to feel less depressed, less fatigued, no more tingling in hands and feed, less headaches, not have itchy skin, and fewer bathroom issues… I just want to feel less of anything that ails me. I want to feel less of anything that has been an issue or occurrence for the past 8 years.

I want to feel good all the time.

Hi, my name is Jackie and I’m gluten free. I’m looking forward to see what this will bring me. I want the challenge if it means being as healthy as I wish I can be. I don’t feel deprived.

Today is, the first day of the rest of my life.

Damn you, eyes and stomach.

Whoa.

When making any sort of dietary change be sure not to get overly excited about something and eat the wrong thing.

I was a shop yesterday that had gluten and dairy free cupcakes. But, I can’t have most dairy alternatives because they usually are soy based. The other cupcakes on the counter weren’t dairy free, I got super excited and asked for one of those.

Looking back at that moment, a stomach ache and stuff later, I realize that those were probably just regular cupcakes. Crap. Um, this would be why they weren’t under a plastic dome.

This is a total flash back to when I gave up soy. Reading packages off of food and getting super excited, and then grabbing a flavor of the product that sounded great… and not reading that exact label.

With any new dramatic change, we’re bound to make mistakes. This was one.